


It's Been a Long, Long Time

by Lyatt1941



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 20:24:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18645469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyatt1941/pseuds/Lyatt1941
Summary: Missing scene from Endgame involving Peggy and Steve Rogers.  His fateful decision and how we get to the end of the movie.  *don’t want to say much more because SPOILERS.





	It's Been a Long, Long Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for this universe, but I couldn't get over this scene and I so wanted to see her reaction to seeing him alive. Since we didn't quite get that, I thought up a little narrative...I hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> I dedicate this to my friend, Lea who hasn't seen the movie yet, but loves spoilers...and Captain and Peggy. Thanks for being AWESOME.

He had made the decision long before that final battle with Thanos.

 

Just the mention of time travel had opened up a myriad of possibilities for Steve Rogers.  How many times had he felt out of place in his new present?  How many times had his heart yearned for a chance to have that missed dance with Peggy?  How many times had he awoken dreaming of her and the life they might have had together?  He had been a man out of his own time for long enough and while he had taken some comfort with having Bucky back for that short amount of time…these past five years alone had made him take stock of his life and his regrets.

 

And Peggy was his greatest regret. 

 

He thought that maybe he could find a way to move on, take some of his own advice and take those small steps away from his past and focus on his present, his future…but then there she was, standing before him, living, breathing, looking every bit like the Peggy he remembered, albeit a little older.  He hadn’t expected to see her in 1970.  He imagined that she might be there, but he had no way to know for sure…and when you figured in that he had wandered into her office accidentally…well, it was almost like it was fate.

 

He wanted to talk to her, to hold her again…but separated by that unforgiving pane of glass…and fifty years he knew that now was not the time.  As much as he would’ve loved to make his presence known, he was on a mission.  Always a mission.  It was a mission that had taken him from her in the first place, and as he left her office he knew that if he survived this one, there was only one future he wanted…and that was with her. 

 

Now as he prepared to enter the Quantum Realm, he felt that his work was done.  He had saved the world, they all had…and now there was nothing more left to do but return those stones to where they had come from.  It was a simple plan really, going back to 1970, he would just swipe another Pym particle (just in case) on his way back to restoring the Teseract…and then he would find a way back to her…to Peggy.

 

Without Tony, it was tricky.  He had no idea of the coordinates he needed for such a trip back to 1945, but using what he did know he managed to get close.  While he was hoping to get back in time for Peggy’s proposed date at the Stork Club, he overshot it by a few months.  The war had ended and the celebrations that had rocked the city were winding down.  It was a different world than the one he had left behind.  A difference of 74 years was more than apparent when he hailed a taxi and noted with a smile that there was no GPS, no digital reading that tallied his (hopefully) one way trip to the only clear lead he had, Camp Lehigh.  If she wasn’t there…someone would surely point him in the right direction. 

 

That someone came in the form of one Howard Stark.  Stammering and amazed at the sight of his old friend, one of his life’s greatest achievements, alive, unhurt, unscathed…he had barely choked out a nearly inaudible “How?” when Steve Rogers cut him off. 

 

“Where’s Peggy?”

Shaking his head, attempting to get some semblance of sense back, Howard startled, “Umm…yeah…of course…it’s Sunday…she should be at home.  I can call her, if you want?”

 

“No.” Steve said with a slight smile.  “I want to surprise her.”

 

Smiling himself, Howard nodded, “Yeah…of course you do.” Clapping his hands together he motioned for Steve to follow him.  “You uh…missed one hell of a party.” He called over his shoulder.  “Course…not everybody felt like celebrating.” He added as he pulled Peggy’s personnel file from a now unlocked drawer.   He was about to hand it over to an eager Steve Rogers when he pulled it back slightly and said, “I gotta know…how the hell did you survive that crash?”

 

“I got lucky, I guess.” Steve said with a smirk, holding out his hand for Peggy’s file. 

 

“You know the Colonel’s gonna want to brief you?” Howard reminded him.

 

“I’m sure he will.” Steve said as he perused her file, “But that’s gonna have to wait.” He quickly scribbled down her address and handed the folder back to Howard.  “I’ve got a date.”

 

She didn’t live far from the base, but for as anxious as he was to see her, it might as well have been the other side of the country.  Every block felt like a mile, every traffic light…an eternity, until finally the taxi turned down a quaint tree-lined street and stopped in front of a simple white bungalow with a wide porch and nice-sized yard.  It was just the sort of place he imagined she would call home, just the sort of place he could see them spending happy years together. 

 

He treaded lightly up the stairs to her front door, his heart racing as he rang her door bell, anxious to see her, nervous to find what her reaction to seeing him might be.  That picture of him on her desk in 1970 was a good indication to him that she still cared…even then, but what would she think of his long absence?  His failure to notify her that he was okay?  How would he explain to her all that had happened to him since he went in the ice all those months ago?  Would she ever believe that he had lived another life 74 years into the future? 

 

All of those questions fell away as he heard her step in the hall.  He could see her silhouette through the curtains as she cautiously approached her front door, clearly not attuned to having visitors.  Steve was almost afraid of having to defend himself against her finely honed skills, thinking that perhaps a phone call might have been the better choice, when the squeak of the turning doorknob met his ears and his breath hitched in his throat.  As she opened her front door, the look of confused annoyance gracing her face gave way to one of complete shock as the book she was reading slipped out of her hands and fell to the floor with a thud.  As tears brimmed her eyes and her lips began to quiver, Steve swallowed hard and offered her a sheepish glance as he murmured, “Hey, Peggy....I…uh…thought maybe we could have that dance now?”

 

Tears spilled onto her cheeks as she let out a watery chuckle, the happiness at seeing Steve Rogers alive and well nearly overwhelming her.  Needing to know that he was real and not some figment of her over-wrought imagination, Peggy wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a desperate embrace.  Sobbing into his neck, it was all she could do to hold him close as he wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the favor.  Pulling away, slightly she quickly wiped away her stray tears and offered him a reproving glance as she stated in a voice shaking with emotion, “You’re late.”   

 

Steve nodded at her with a smile and with a quirk of his lip and shaky exhale of his own he replied, "You have no idea."


End file.
